‘Then, in the second half, they change the game. After the first goal, one team gains rhythm, another team loses rhythm. The game changes.

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‘We can go through all scenarios: they score early, we score early and all that stuff. It is not to plan like this. I cannot tell the boys, “Boys, score early”. Well, I can, but I am not sure that it really helps. It is all clear.

‘We have to think about football, what we have to do, where we have to do it. The boys knew after the [first] game. This is half-time. The game is not over.

Mohamed Salah scored his 38th goal of the season in the rout at Anfield (Picture: Reuters)

‘We are in the lead, nothing else. Being in the lead is not winning. We need a little bit more from this game.’

Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mane were all on target for Liverpool in an incredible first-half display at Anfield.

The Reds were less impressive after the break but did not appear overly troubled as City failed to score a crucial away goal.

The only downside from a Liverpool perspective was an injury scare to talisman Salah, who hobbled off holding his groin after scoring his 38th goal of the season.

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Klopp said on Monday that he would leave it late before deciding whether the Egypt sensation would start the second leg in Manchester.

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‘There is no secret. He felt something, whatever it was,’ Klopp said of Salah, who trained with his team-mates on Monday.

‘It was five days ago. The boys deserve a lot of respect for their performance from the first game. Now let us play and enjoy and we will see what happens in the second game.’

City boss Guardiola, meanwhile, has told his team they will need to play the ‘perfect game’ to overturn their three-goal deficit and progress in the Champions League.

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